30 Days Hath September 2016 | Day 5 | She Hexes Newscasters by Patricia Monaghan

September 5, 2016

She Hexes Newscasters

What else could I do? For weeks

It been one intolerable

word after another, war and

war and war again and it seemed

so easy. A word from me, and

songs sprayed from their mouths,

automatic carols: praise

for the caliber of clouds

and the blue shrapnel sky,

the bombardment of rain,

praise for maneuvers

of finches and ravens, praise—

but it is not enough, even though

it is my strongest spell, making

beauty out of words. I repeat it,

I repeat it nightly, I burn

blue candles just to keep them

singing. Oh I want real power:

that soldiers, aiming at men’s

hearts see them and stop,

that presidents invoke old

powers—earth and wind and

all their deputies—that

generals sit before their maps

telling rapt stories of the dawn.

– Patricia Monaghan

Patricia Monaghan (1946-2012) was the co-founder of the Black Earth Institute. She was a poet, scholar, and activist. She had 6 collections of poetry published and edited several others. Her scholarship focused on woman’s spirituality, specifically goddess figures throughout history and the world. Her life is reflected in BEI’s focus on spirit, earth and social justice